Waters Co. (WAT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $200.93.

WAT has been the subject of several research reports. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Waters in a research note on Friday, January 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $230.00 price target for the company. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $211.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Janney Montgomery Scott raised their price target on shares of Waters from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $192.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Waters from $188.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th.

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In other Waters news, Director Thomas P. Salice sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.03, for a total transaction of $700,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,070,410.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark T. Beaudouin sold 42,143 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.21, for a total value of $9,153,881.03. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,506,890.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 124,789 shares of company stock valued at $26,083,647. 5.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Waters by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 209,081 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 340.8% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 25,470 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,682,000 after purchasing an additional 19,692 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,280 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. AHL Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Waters by 167.1% during the 2nd quarter. AHL Partners LLP now owns 22,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,209,000 after purchasing an additional 14,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shelton Capital Management acquired a new stake in Waters during the 2nd quarter valued at $475,000. 91.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters (WAT) opened at $203.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $16,170.00, a P/E ratio of 1,129.22, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.88. Waters has a 52 week low of $144.66 and a 52 week high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $687.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $671.98 million. Waters had a net margin of 0.88% and a return on equity of 24.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. equities research analysts predict that Waters will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation is an analytical instrument manufacturer. The Company operates through two segments: Waters and TA. It designs, manufactures, sells and services high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC and together with HPLC, referred to as LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products and post-warranty service plans.